(Quote)ED-20630 said:
There are so few times that I can find to support our president, I just wanted to get this out so tha...

(Quote)ED-20630 said:

There are so few times that I can find to support our president, I just wanted to get this out so that no one misses it.

This morning (4/11/13), President Obama awarded the posthumous medal of honor to Fr. Emil Kapaun, Catholic priest and U.S. Army chaplain for his extraordinary and heroic service during the Korean War. Fr. Kapaun did not make it back home. After being taken prisoner, he later died in captivity.

The video(below) is of the entire White House ceremony this morning. I was happy to see that the entire ceremony was covered live on both CNN and FOX. The story of Fr. Kapuan, his life, his inspiration to fellow soldiers and POWs, and his eventual death by the prison guards is quite impressive and moving.

I recommend that you watch/listen to the story of Fr. Kapuan, as delivered by President Obama. It was nice to hear him have so many good things to say about a Cathoic priest and U.S. Army chaplain. The president even mentioned, among many other heroic deeds, how Fr. Kapuan would say the Rosary with the prisoners, deliver the sacraments and preside over Mass in the prison camp... providing great inspiration, comfort and encouragement to the other prisoners. As Fr. Kapuan finally was being led away (by the guards) to his death, he blessed the guards saying... "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing."

(Quote)ED-20630 said:
There are so few times that I can find to support our president, I just wanted to get this out so tha...

(Quote)ED-20630 said:

There are so few times that I can find to support our president, I just wanted to get this out so that no one misses it.

This morning (4/11/13), President Obama awarded the posthumous medal of honor to Fr. Emil Kapaun, Catholic priest and U.S. Army chaplain for his extraordinary and heroic service during the Korean War. Fr. Kapaun did not make it back home. After being taken prisoner, he later died in captivity.

The video(below) is of the entire White House ceremony this morning. I was happy to see that the entire ceremony was covered live on both CNN and FOX. The story of Fr. Kapuan, his life, his inspiration to fellow soldiers and POWs, and his eventual death by the prison guards is quite impressive and moving.

I recommend that you watch/listen to the story of Fr. Kapuan, as delivered by President Obama. It was nice to hear him have so many good things to say about a Cathoic priest and U.S. Army chaplain. The president even mentioned, among many other heroic deeds, how Fr. Kapuan would say the Rosary with the prisoners, deliver the sacraments and preside over Mass in the prison camp... providing great inspiration, comfort and encouragement to the other prisoners. As Fr. Kapuan finally was being led away (by the guards) to his death, he blessed the guards saying... "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing."

(Quote)Paul-866591 said:
Here's somthing to be proud of.
Since the CMH was created during the Civil War about 15...

(Quote)Paul-866591 said:

Here's somthing to be proud of.

Since the CMH was created during the Civil War about 150 yeasrs ago, only 8 Miltary Chaplins have been given the award.

Every single one of them was a Catholic Priest.

--hide--

Paul,

I didn't know that.

But while we're on the subject of those other chaplains, I'm going to sneak in a word for one of them, Father Vincent Robert Capodanno. He was a Navy chaplain assigned to the Marines in Viet Nam where he was killed. There is a cause underway for his canonization:

Thanks for sharing about this story Ed. I did read something about it recently, possibly on Catholic Exchange's web site. I know it's awesome to hear about the influence of a good & godly chaplain (espec. a priest) to those who are prisoners of war.

Someone else mentioned another chaplain & my dad had been an assistant chaplain before & during WWII. He was probably picked due to him being a previous seminarian. Years later I remember hearing another man who knew him during this time share some really complimentary things about him too w/ my mom & I.

(Quote)William-607613 said:Paul,I didn't know that.But while we're on the subject of those other chapl...

(Quote)William-607613 said:Paul,

I didn't know that.

But while we're on the subject of those other chaplains, I'm going to sneak in a word for one of them, Father Vincent Robert Capodanno. He was a Navy chaplain assigned to the Marines in Viet Nam where he was killed. There is a cause underway for his canonization:

In ancient history when I was in the Army my Platoon Sgt. and one of my squad leaders were just talking. Neither of them were Catholic and both were Korean War vets. For some reason we got on the subject of Chaplins. They were telling me how much they liked our Battle Group Catholic Chaplin.

Then my Platoon Sgt. startled me by saying that although he was not Catholic he had great admiration for all the Catholic Chaplains he ever ran into. I asked him why. His simple answer was that in battle, the only Chaplin he had ever seen were Catholic ones, all the others were safely back at HQ. He said that all those other Chaplains worked hard dealing with casualties as they came in, advising men off the line and conducting services. "But all those Guppy Guppers were always there getting shot at just like the rest of us, ministering to the guys who were dying under fire."

(Quote)Paul-866591 said:
In ancient history when I was in the Army my Platoon Sgt. and one of my squad leaders were just ta...

(Quote)Paul-866591 said:

In ancient history when I was in the Army my Platoon Sgt. and one of my squad leaders were just talking. Neither of them were Catholic and both were Korean War vets. For some reason we got on the subject of Chaplins. They were telling me how much they liked our Battle Group Catholic Chaplin.

Then my Platoon Sgt. startled me by saying that although he was not Catholic he had great admiration for all the Catholic Chaplains he ever ran into. I asked him why. His simple answer was that in battle, the only Chaplin he had ever seen were Catholic ones, all the others were safely back at HQ. He said that all those other Chaplains worked hard dealing with casualties as they came in, advising men off the line and conducting services. "But all those Guppy Guppers were always there getting shot at just like the rest of us, ministering to the guys who were dying under fire."

I have never forgotten that.

--hide--

That's an interesting point. The problem with having clergymen who are married is that they have to consider their wives and their children, which limits their abilities to either risk their lives or risk getting arrested speaking out against governments. As I am sure you know, Father Maximilian Kolbe took the place of a married man who was condemned to death in Auschwitz. There was a cell block in the Dachau concentration camp that had only Catholic priests in it, because so many of them were locked up for speaking out against the Nazi government. (Check out the German movie on the subject, "The Ninth Day." It has subtitles.)

I recommend the book "The Grunt Padre" by Fr. Daniel L. Mode, which is the story of Father Capodanno. There were quite a few non-Catholics who had great respect for the man, and I suspect that played no small part in his receiving (posthumously) the CMH.

(Quote)William-607613 said:That's an interesting point. The problem with having clergymen who are married is that they hav...

(Quote)William-607613 said:That's an interesting point. The problem with having clergymen who are married is that they have to consider their wives and their children, which limits their abilities to either risk their lives or risk getting arrested speaking out against governments. As I am sure you know, Father Maximilian Kolbe took the place of a married man who was condemned to death in Auschwitz. There was a cell block in the Dachau concentration camp that had only Catholic priests in it, because so many of them were locked up for speaking out against the Nazi government. (Check out the German movie on the subject, "The Ninth Day." It has subtitles.)

I recommend the book "The Grunt Padre" by Fr. Daniel L. Mode, which is the story of Father Capodanno. There were quite a few non-Catholics who had great respect for the man, and I suspect that played no small part in his receiving (posthumously) the CMH.